Is the Weber 18-Inch Cold Cleaning Brush safer than steel wire brushes?
On February 26, 2026, The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled over 3 million wire grill cleaning brushes.
Hazard: Small metal wire bristles can detach from the brushes, stick to the grill or food, posing an ingestion hazard and risk of serious internal injuries that could require surgery.
Remedy: Replace
Weber quickly issued a voluntary recall for six models of their metal wire bristle grill brushes. If you have one of the recalled brushes, Weber will replace it with a similar model of their Nylon Cold Cleaning Brushes. We’ve tested and reviewed a number of grill brushes but were not familiar with these Nylon Cold Cleaning models. So it was off to the hardware store to check them out.
Weber product description
• Use only on fully cool cooking grates and grill surfaces
• Heavy-duty nylon bristles clean thoroughly without shedding
We got an 18-inch model. They’re also available in a smaller 12-inch size and as a brush with scraper.
Although steel is stronger, and more heat resistant, Weber’s nylon bristles feel unexpectedly solid and similar to steel wire.
We had neglected to clean a grill after use a couple nights previously. Fortuitous given the circumstances.
This enabled us to do a side-by-side test without delay, cleaning the dirty grate with a wire brush (left) and the Weber 18-Inch Cold Cleaning Brush (right).
The metal wire brush did a slightly better job, but the heavy-duty nylon worked surprisingly well. Which brought up a troubling thought.
How safe is it?
The nylon is rigid and sharp.
What prevents the nylon bristles from breaking off and being ingested? We attempted to twist them off, but they were resilient and stubbornly wouldn’t break or budge. Weber responded, “the replacement brush uses nylon bristles designed for use on cool grill surfaces. These brushes have been developed and tested thoroughly by the Weber quality assurance team to meet our performance and quality standards. The design helps reduce the likelihood of bristles detaching during cleaning. The bristles are also thicker and bright red, which makes them highly visible to consumers. As with any grill cleaning tool, we recommend following the manufacturer’s instructions and checking the cooking surface before use.”
Weber 18-Inch Cold Cleaning Brush Rating
We’re giving these Cold Cleaning Brushes our Gold Medal, but we have not tested them over an extended period and may adjust the review going forward.
Warranty
One year
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